TSOTRE: New pioneers
by KanisRussell
Summary: Spinoff to the song of the red eagle: Follow Harold and Joseph Romanov as they travel to andromeda in a quest for a new life. Hardship is endured and friendships are made along the way. Nothing is ever easy.
1. Chapter 1: A ghost

**Hey Fellas.**

 **Here is another story from me. This one is based upon the ideas of a reviewer named C.E.W from my other story "The Song of the Red Eagle". This is a spinoff of that story following two minor characters in that story. I suggest you read the other story, though it is not required. I will give full credit to the reviewer for the character ideas and storyline. I have taken a few liberates with it.**

Harold Romanov was a respected major in the alliance. His life had been full of events, such as the Jon Grissom's expedition through the Charon Relay, the first contact war and the fact that he was a notable N7 operative didn't quell his reputation as well. He was born in 2129 to Nicholas Romanov who was the grandson of Alexander Romanov, one of Mads Romanov's nephews.

Harold had heard much of this Mads Romanov through his childhood. Every summer spent at his great granddads house, he heard stories about the Great Russian officer, the pride of the family. A terrible shame he was shot back in 2017. Alexander had never met Mads, but his father was his brother, and so he too had spent countless summers hearing about him.

Harold met Alec Ryder during the original expedition through the Charon Relay. They quickly became good friends, doing everything together. Harold would follow Alec to hell and back if he had to. They fought together during the first contact war against the Turians on the human colony of Shanxi. They were both recommended to the N7 program and quickly rose through the ranks of the alliance.

 **25/11 2174**

Harold was sitting at his desk at his office at the alliance headquarters in Vancouver. The clock was close to midnight, but his table was still full of paperwork that needed to be done. He looked over at the two picture frames sitting at his desk, the two most important people in his life. His now deceased wife Michelle and his son Joseph.

Joseph was born in 2158, a year after the first contact war; his birth had been the best and worst day of his life. Harold had met Michelle in the last days of the first war; he had received a bullet wound to his shoulder and she had been the nurse that took care of him. They fell in love and were married a year later.. Harold was sure he was blessed, until Michelle died in childbirth. He never truly came to peace with her passing, and so he buried himself in work instead of taking care of his son properly.

Joseph spent most of his time with his grandparents, although Harold and Joseph were distant, they still loved each other. Joseph looked forward to every time his father would come home, every time Harold would tell him stories and take him out to play. Joseph was now a teenager and has already rebelled against Harold, but Harold saw himself in the young man.

Harold wondered what he could have done differently. His friend Alec had done the same mistake by choosing work instead of his children. Alec's wife Ellen had given birth to twins in 2163, although Joseph was five years older, he still loved to play with twins, Sara and Scott Ryder. Harold didn't see Alec a lot these days, mostly because Alec had been reposted to the Citadel as a military attaché. There were rumor that Ellen was ill with cancer that could not be cured; Harold hoped to god that they were false. He didn't want his best friend to go through what he did.

Harold suddenly heard knocking on the door, he wondered who it was. Very few people came to visit him and even fewer at this hour.

"Come in!" Harold yelled.

A figure came through the door. Harold looked at him, he seemed familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on where he had seen him before. He had boots that went to just before his knees and a thigh holster with an old school revolver in it. It all seemed very strange to him, no one in the alliance had that type of uniform, yet it could have sworn he had seen it before.

"Harold Romanov?" The man asked as he walked towards the chair in front of the desk.

"Yes, who is asking?" Harold was curious who this was.

"You probably don't know me, but I'm Mads Romanov" The man answered.

"Mads Romanov? But he died like 150 years ago, who do you think you are? Using my families name like that!" Harold was furious; how did anyone have the nerve to take the identity of the pride of the family?

"I know it must seem strange, I'm still trying to understand how I ended up here. I was put on ice. Russia did not want to lose their best officer and decided to cryo freeze me. I don't expect you to believe me, but at least give me a chance! I lost everything, my parents, my sister and brother. I never got to see their children!" Mads was very good at convincing him.

"Alright I'll bite" Harold said as he sat back down in his seat.

Mads pulled down his sleeve on his right arm to show his tattoo. It said:

 **Mads Aleksandrovich Romanov** **.**

 **31/8 1992**

Mads' birthday were not known outside of the family. Mads shared several stories from his childhood and his time in military and how it felt to wake up after such a long time. He told him that he had visited the resting place of his family and friends.

"I decided to check up on currently living Romanovs. I have already visited your parents' house and said hi. Your achievements are proven; you make a soldier such as me very proud" Mads said with a smile.

"I can't believe it. I grew up hearing stories about you, every summer my great grandfather would tell me about you. I have seen all photos and videos of you" That's why he looked familiar; no one could create such a perfect copy of a human. His scars backed up his story about getting shot in Syria all those years ago.

"What now? Will you return to the alliance?" Harold asked.

"Yes, I have been offered a position by Captain Anderson. I'm afraid we won't be talking too much, I'll be starting a new life, but I would love to meet your son" Mads said, he felt saddened that he wouldn't have time to see them much.

"I think we can work something out, I would like you to meet my best friend Alec Ryder" Harold said.

"I would love to" Mads said as he got up from his seat and began to walk to the door, he stopped to write something on a notepad and walked back to Harold's desk to place it down.

"You can contact me through my extranet account" Mads said. Harold nodded and watched him walk out the door. Harold wondered if he had dreamed it all. He called up Joseph to tell him about it, Harold wondered if he should tell Alec about it, but it would probably be against Mads' wish of a new life.

 _The legend walks again. I wonder what influence he will have on the galaxy._ Harold thought to himself.

Harold decided to take the next few days off to get his head around to the events that had just happened. He told Joe everything and the Romanov family spoke together about what this meant for them. Should Russia every want their royal family back, he would be the one to take the throne.

3


	2. Chapter 2: Elysium Fight

**15/8 2176**

 **Alliance Cruiser SSV Siberia**

Joe Romanov was checking his rifle for faults; he was about to head into his first battle. He had just recently completed training in the alliance, and now he was already heading in to his first fight as a soldier. His father didn't like the idea of him being in the alliance; Harold had seen enough death and destruction to know it was hardly ever worth it. Joe didn't sign up because of his father, but rather because of their new family member, recently back from the dead. Mads Romanov had already made a name for himself in this new era, and Joe wanted a piece of the cake.

They had just received the distress call from the colony of Elysium. Several thousand pirates and mercenaries had attacked the colony; only about 50 alliance marines had been posted to the colony, Mads Romanov included. There was a garrison, but it was mostly volunteers with little to no training. Joe had complete confidence in Mads, he was sure if anyone could keep the colony safe with only 50 able soldiers, it would be him.

Joe boarded a troop shuttle, they would be the relieve force. They didn't know if the colony was still standing, nor did they know the current strength of the enemy force. It was a bit of a gamble on the alliance's part, but if the colony fell, their reputation would also fall greatly.

"I hope you are ready, ladies!" The lieutenant asked as the last soldier boarded the shuttle.

"Sir yes sir!" They all answered.

"Good, this is the situation: Several thousand pirates have attacked the colony of Elysium, it is our job to relieve the few forces holding out. We will push them out, I repeat, we will push them out!" The lieutenant stated.

They all cheered at his remark. The shuttle took off from the cruiser, escorted by several fighter wings. The shuttle slowly made its way to the surface of the planet. The fighters broke off to engage some pirate ships attempting to flee the scene.

"Are you ready?" Corporal Johnson asked Joe.

Joe took a few moments to think about it. To be honest he wasn't really sure, he had been telling himself that he was for the last couple of weeks in training. But now he wasn't sure.

"I suppose so" Joe answered.

"Well you damn better be." Corporal Johnson replied.

It didn't take long for the shuttle to land. They were close to the pirate holdout, where the remaining pirate fighters were trying to make a last stand against the alliance.

The alliance stormed out of the shuttle, they were all ready to rush straight ahead to take-on the enemy. Fortunately, their lieutenant stopped them and organized them to ensure as few casualties as possible.

"Private Romanov, you take follow Corporal Johnson and take the east flank. Hopefully we can catch them before too many fly off." The lieutenant ordered.

"Yes sir!" Joe replied as he saluted his superior.

The men split up. They went on a small search on destroy mission, trying to take down as many pirates as possible.

"Orders, sir?" Joe asked as they entered the camp.

"If you see anything that remotely resembles a gun, you shoot to kill. Otherwise, try to get them on the ground first." Corporal Johnson replied.

They began searching the makeshift camp. There were at least 20 space ships parked there.

"Romanov, you take point" Johnson ordered.

"Yes sir" Joe replied as he got in front. He readied his rifle for the upcoming assault.

Joe moved with careful steps, he hated to admit it, but he was nervous, extremely nervous. Being in such a state could be Hazardous for the mission and his teammates. He took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. This allowed for more air to travel to his brain, making him a little bit calmer.

Then he heard some tools being knocked over and some footsteps followed it. They weren't from them and he was pretty sure it wasn't the other team. Joe readied not just his rifle, but himself as well.

Then some Batarian in body armor stumbled in front of them. Joe noticed the gun in his hand as the Batarian tried to get its footing again.

"STOP RIGHT THERE! DROP THE GUN!" Joe yelled at the Batarian. He hoped the Batarian would do as he said, but deep down he knew that the chances of that were slim.

"Fuck you!" Was the answer from the Batarian. Joe would have rolled his eyes if he had the time.

Then the Batarian raised his gun and pointed it at Joe. It was then that time slowed down, it was a small standoff. Joe raised his gun, but it felt like it took hours. As soon as his sight was set on the Batarian, Joe hit the trigger and he didn't stop, not even when the body of the Batarian was on the ground. The only thing that finally stopped him was the gun telling him that it was overheated. He kept pulling the trigger, but he was only rewarded with the sound of clicking and warnings that the weapon had overheated.

"That's quite enough, private!" Corporal Johnson ordered as he came up to the young man and lowered his gun.

"He is-"Joe took a few moments to collect himself. "He is dead" Joe finally said.

"That tends to happen when you shoot someone until your rifle overheats." Corporal Johnson replied.

Corporal Johnson took point after that. Joe followed behind. The corporal took down a few, but most of them seemed to have either been killed during their attack or during their retreat.

They finally met up with the other team, it appeared that they had faced a larger force, most likely a few dozen.

A few hours went by making sure the area was clear of hostiles. Then they all met up at the original battle site just outside the city. The dug in positions of the original 50 marines were badly damaged from artillery fire and close combat. The city however was left pretty much untouched by the hellfire from the pirates.

Joe could see his corporal and the lieutenant speaking. If he had to make a qualified guess, they were most likely speaking about the incident earlier. Joe let out a sigh. It was so unprofessional of him; it was like he had forgotten all the time he had spent in alliance boot camp.

Joe looked around the camp. Medics were busy helping all those who had been fighting. Those in critical conditions were being flown back to the alliance ships currently in orbit.

It was then he spotted a familiar face sitting on a bench with a medic in front of him, checking him for wounds and injures. It was Mads, he looked rather displeased at the moment. Mads' armor was painted with blood.

Joe walked over to Mads; it was nice seeing that he had survived the whole ordeal. Joe got close enough to hear the conversation between the two.

"Does it hurt when I press here?" The medic asked as he pressed on Mads' left thigh.

"For the 117th time, I'M FINE!" Mads replied.

"What about mental damage, have you experienced any dark thoughts or mental pain?" The medic asked.

"What are you, a therapist? I'm fine! Now leave me alone" Mads answered frustrated.

"Alright, but if you experience any form of pain, be sure to report to the nearest medic." The medic said as a final note as he took off.

"Yeah" Mads replied as he pulled out his packet of cigarettes. He was just about to light it, when he spotted Joe.

"Joseph!" Mads called out.

Joe closed the distance between the two. Mads quickly noticed Joe acted a little different than usually.

"Hey" He greeted back in a rather quiet voice.

"What's wrong kiddo?" Mads asked as he lit his cigarette already in between his lips.

Joe remained quiet. Mads looked at him for a moment or two, until it dawned on him.

"You killed one, didn't you?" Mads asked.

"Yes" Was the answer. Joe didn't look very proud at that moment.

"Hey, look at me" Mads said in a comforting voice.

Joe shifted his attention from the ground to Mads' eyes.

"No one is proud of their first kill, hell, most people aren't proud of any of their kills. The first is definitely the hardest one. Keep your head high." Mads advised.

"I will." Joe replied.

"PRIVATE! Get your sorry ass over here!" The lieutenant yelled from afar.

"What his deal?" Mads asked as he looked over to the lieutenant.

"Their mad because I couldn't control myself when I killed the pirate." Joe answered.

"Let's talk to them then" Mads suggested.

Joe hesitated, but nodded his head after a moment or two.

They walked over to the lieutenant and corporal.

"The corporal told me you lost focus out there in the field. You know that is unacceptable!" lieutenant yelled in the Joe's face.

"Hey! The kid just finished boot camp, of course he is shocked by his first kill" Mads fired back.

"And who the fuck are you?" lieutenant asked as he almost spit in Mads' face.

"I'm the motherfucker who repelled the attack, so you better show some damn respect!" Mads replied as he took a step forward and pointed to himself. The lieutenant took a step back.

"What's this kid to you?" The lieutenant asked.

"He is my god damn nephew and I won't stand for this slander!" Mads answered.

The lieutenant mumbled something, probably a curse. Both him and the corporal left.

"Thanks" Joe said.

"You're quite welcome. Though you should probably get some more gun training if you want to stay in the alliance, just saying." Mads replied.

"I will, maybe you can teach me?" Joe asked.

"Why me?" Mads asked back.

"You just defended this colony by yourself! They don't call you the red eagle just for the heck of it." Joe replied.

"The red eagle?" Mads asked confused.

"A nickname made by the locals. I think it kind of fits." Joe answered.

"Is that so?" Mads laughed.

"Alright, we can see about that training when we return to earth." Mads said.

"Thanks."

5


	3. Chapter 3: Gun training

**5/2 2177**

 **15 km outside of St. Petersburg.**

It was lightly snowing in the small former military base. Joe had made sure to pack himself in warm clothes, now he knew why he had never bothered to visit Russia before now; it was simply way too cold for his liking.

Mads had dragged him out here for that gun training he promised on Elysium. Joe was rather angry he chose such a cold spot, why couldn't he have picked Texas or California?

The small base had been abandoned for almost 3 decades, ever since the Russians joined the alliance. The facility's gun range still worked and was in a pretty good shape. Mads was currently getting the weapons out of the sky car they had arrived in. Joe took a moment to look around the base.

It was clear that it had been left to rot for some time. Bushes had creeped up the side of most barracks and buildings. The entire complex and it's layout It definitely came a feel about how soldiers used to live back in the day. Now most soldiers had pretty good conditions.

"Are you enjoying the view?" Mads asked as he stopped beside Joe. Mads had a duffle bag over his shoulder.

"Pretty weird seeing something like this." Joe replied.

"Yeah. It's something else, isn't it?" Mads commented.

"Come on, I'll show you something." Mads said as he began to walk over to one of the Barracks.

Joe followed him as they went inside. It was dark and cold inside. Mads' jackboots echoed throughout the empty building. The walked for a little while and they came to a door. Mads slowly opened it and walked inside. There was space for 8 soldiers in the otherwise small room.

"What did you want to show me?" Joe asked as he eyed the room.

"I used to live here." Mads answered as nostalgia washed over him.

"Like, from before?" Joe asked.

"Yes, I stayed here from 2011 to 2013. It was during basic boot camp and my first year as an official soldier. I was later transferred to Moscow to serve in the Kremlin Regiment, then again in 2015 to begin service in Spetsnaz." Mads explained.

"Quite a story. Is that why you picked this place?" Joe asked.

"Partly, I also own the place. And it has a damn fine shooting range." Mads replied.

"You own this place?" Joe asked.

"I do indeed. It was rather cheap, bought it on an auction." Mads answered.

They looked at the room for a few more moments.

"Let's go fire some guns." Mads suggested.

"Right behind you." Joe replied as he followed Mads out of the room.

They reached the gun range. Mads dropped the duffle bag on the table and zipped it up. He took out a pistol and tossed it to Joe.

"That's a standard issue alliance pistol. Given to ground personal. Perhaps you tried it before?" Mads asked.

"No, I have only fire the Avenger. It's pretty light." Joe commented as he felt the weight of the gun in his hand.

"That's one of the better sides of these new lines of guns. Give it a try." Mads said as he pointed to the target on the range.

Joe took aim and held his breath as he fired a shot. It hit the target in the stomach region.

"Not bad. Try again, this time for the head. Take your time." Mads ordered.

Joe took aim once again. He held his breath and fired. It hit the throat on the paper target.

"Try again." Mads said.

And so Joe did. Once again he didn't hit it. He began to crow frustrated and fired the pistol at a rapid pace, each shot hitting worse than previous.

"That's enough." Mads said as he put his hand on Joe's gun and lowered it for him.

"Don't get frustrated on the battlefield. It's a one way ticket to death. Try again and remember to breathe, and line up your shot." Mads advised as he took his hand of the pistol.

"Okay." He said as he tightly gripped the gun and aimed it once again. He breathed slowly as he lined up his aim.

He lightly pulled back the trigger until the gun fired. It had hit dead center. Joe exhaled after that as he lowered his gun.

He kept practicing with the pistol for about half an hour until Mads stopped him.

"Let's try something a little more your style." Mads said as he pulled out the Avenger from his duffle bag. And threw it to Joe. Joe caught it, this weapon he had some experience with.

Joe lined up his shots pretty sweet with the Avenger. Another half an hour went by with trying it out until Mads once again stopped him.

"I brought something a little different for today." Mads said as he began looking around in the duffle bag. He finally found what he was looking for. It was inside a small case.

Joe walked over to him to see what was going on. "Go on, open it." Mads ordered. Joe slowly opened the case, it revealed a handgun, definitely not from this era.

"What is it?" Joe asked as he eyed it. Mads laughed a bit, forgetting that such weapons were no longer well known.

"That is a Colt m1911. About as American as apple pie." Mads answered while laughing a little bit.

"It's pretty sweet. Is it yours?" Joe asked as he took the gun in his hands.

"Mine? No it can't be." Mads replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Joe asked as he looked over at Mads.

"It has your name on it." Mads replied. Joe turned over the weapon and sure enough, his name was engraved on the barrel of the gun.

 **J. Romanov**

"You didn't" Joe said.

"You popped your cherry a little sooner than I imagined. I had it made on a rush order." Mads explained.

"Who made it?" Joe asked as he looked down the sights of the gun.

"Sergei the Merchant." Mads replied.

"Sergei the Merchant?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, he is pretty good when you want your guns, well, unregulated. He is a former alliance marine, now he is one of the biggest weapon smugglers on earth." Mads answered.

"Anything else I should know?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, this weapon is different from any weapon you will ever encounter on the battlefield these days. It shots 45. ACP, so it has a lot of stopping power, but a lot more recoil that any other gun the alliance or any species uses. The magazine only holds 7 rounds, so use them well. Ammo goes quick. Treat it right and it serve you well." Mads explained.

"It's a bit heavy, isn't it?" Joe commented as he felt the heavy gun in his hand.

"It's made from stainless steel, I would expect nothing less." Mads replied.

"Try it out." Mads ordered.

Joe stepped up to the range and held up the otherwise heavy gun. He fired off a round, immediately feeling the recoil from the gun. But it felt right, the gun felt right in his hand. The power was nice; it gave a feeling of being in control. Joe quickly emptied his magazine. Mads tossed him another.

"How the hell do you reload this thing?" Joe asked while trying to eject the empty magazine.

Mads walked up to him. "You just press right here." Mads said as he pointed to the small button. Joe pressed it and the magazine fell on the ground. He put in the other magazine and so the weapon was ready to fire once again.

"You think you can handle a moving target?" Mads asked after a little while of watching Joe shooting.

"I believe so." Joe replied.

Mads changed the settings on the range to allow for a moving target. Joe began firing, but misses pretty much all shots.

"Put the gun down, son." Mads ordered. Joe let out a sigh and put the gun down on the table beside him.

"The key to hitting a target that is moving, is to not shoot where it is, but shoot where it is going to be." Mads advised.

"It's not that easy!" Joe fired back.

Mads guided Joe to the side and took his place in the booth. He unholstered his 44. Magnum and took aim. The target was still moving. Mads began shooting, the loud sound almost deafen Joe as he took a step away. Mads hit every single time, he had unloaded 6 rounds into the target just to demonstrate his own point.

"It is pretty easy." Mads said as he spun the magnum around in his hand and down into his holster.

Joe sighed and took place at the range again. He picked up the m1911 and took aim once again. He kept Mads' words in his mind as he aimed at the moving target.

 _Not where it is, but where it will be_ He kept telling himself. Finally he shot a round. He hit the moving target and he cheered inside his own mind. He tried again and was successful. He felt himself grow more confident in his shooting and began using only one hand, only to regret it after almost dropping the gun due to the recoil.

"Nice job!" Mads proclaimed as he came him a pat on the back.

"Thanks for the gift. It's pretty sweet." Joe said.

"It's not all." Mads said as he went back to the bag and began searching around in it. He pulled out a belt with a holster.

"Try it on." Mads requested. Joe took it around his waist and snapped it in place.

"It's an old police belt and holster; I believe it's from the NYPD or something. It's pretty handy. There is a holster for your 1911, 3 magazine pouches and a pouch for handcuffs, if you ever need those." Mads explained.

"Damn it's sweet! And it's real leather too!" Joe said in delightment as he studied the material of the belt.

"May it serve you well. If you ever find yourself in need of more ammunition or magazine, contact this number." Mads said as he handed Joe a piece of paper with a number on it.

"Is this the same Sergei you spoke of earlier?" Joe asked.

"Yep, just tell I send you." Mads replied.

"Great!" Joe said.

They spent the rest of the day shooting and talking about various things. Soon it was already late and they went home.

5


End file.
